Paternal Problems
by Kurissyma san Tybalt
Summary: The day she became a model was the worst day of her fathers life and after she moved out it became necessary to hold annual reunions just to keep the family from falling apart. This year shes been required to bring a date or face her mothers wrath. BearBT
1. Chapter 1

**Paternal Problems**

**Chapter 1**

_**Real World**_

When BT –Machiko Kitaoka- became a model, it was the worst day of her military father's life. It was the loudest of hers. Apparently, modelling was just about the worst way to waste a good body. Apparently. After her father's initial fury there had been months and months of mounting tension between them before she had finally moved out, only to end her career a few years later. It didn't matter, though- her father never looked at her the same way again and she couldn't bring herself to go back home anyway. At the time, she'd only been nineteen-years-old.

Since that day nine years ago, her mother had held family reunions at the old country house where she'd grown up. These reunions were awkward and never seemed to go quite as planned, but, unlike her class ones, she always went- for her mother's sanity, if not for her own.

BT had three brothers, all older and –in their own minds- more mature. Their names were Toshio, Kiyu and Joshua, the latter two being identical twins of the most annoying kind and the first brother being the eldest. She also had two sisters, Djane and Imogen. The former was older than BT and the CEO of a large corporation, while the second, who was younger, was a Private First Class in the military, and obviously the favourite of their father.

BT's mother was a dark-haired beauty, who had also been in the military for the majority of her life, but who had resigned upon settling down with Brigadier General (at that time, Lieutenant Colonel) Kitaoka and having Toshio, the first-born of their total six children. Now retired, she fired all of her energy into running her household, but while being strict as hell, she had been softened by her many years as a civilian and lived to organise social gatherings and such.

Last year's reunion had been particularly painful. It had been only a month or so after the birth of Djane's second child, a girl named Meryl, and as soon as BT's mother, Elaine, had finished fussing over the baby, she had turned to BT and started bombarding her with questions as to whether or not she was dating, and when was she going to 'set her priorities straight', settle down and have children of her own- no matter how many times she tried to tell her mother that having children was definitely not something she would ever _ever_ consider as being a main priority.

With Joshua's wife being pregnant and in attendance this year, and a good number of children running around, BT's position was looking dire, and as she miserably opened the familiar-looking invitation she couldn't help but sigh as she thought of the verbal lashing her mother would be dealing out this year.

After a few moments of reflection, she made a decision, picked up the phone and dialled the number at the bottom of the invite. She just couldn't take another year of it.

-

Ten minutes found her putting the phone back down and groaning softly to herself. She had called her parents with the specific intention of telling them that she'd be busy for this year's reunion and couldn't make it, but upon hearing her mother's excited voice as she picked up the phone, she couldn't do it. Instead, she reluctantly asked permission to bring a guest- Bear being the first that came to mind. Immediately taking the word 'guest' to mean 'date', her mother had let out a frenzied squeal and _insisted_ that BT bring such a guest to the reunion, and she, being undeniably weak when it came to her mother, couldn't refuse.

Still, as she sat down at her terminal and reached for the virtual reality headset and controller that would take her into 'The World', she couldn't help but sigh again and wonder if she could still ask Bear to accompany her… as her date.

-

'The World' 

"A family reunion?"

BT nodded, staring down at the forest floor in an obvious attempt to avoid Bear's eyes. "It's okay if you don't want to come, but I do need a date and I don't know all that many men I could stand spending a week at my parents' house with, and my family definitely wouldn't be impressed if I brought a girl, so-?"

"Of course I'll come," said Bear, cutting her off easily. "I know what it's like- my mother is the same way."

BT, who had met Bear's mother, grimaced. "Yes, I suppose. Thank you for agreeing to come."

"No problem," said Bear. "I need a holiday anyway."

BT offered him a wry smile, "you're always saying that."

"Well now I have an excuse to take one, don't I?" said Bear, sounding much happier about the reunion than she ever did. "A nice week in the countryside with no work, no obligations and no son pestering me for a new car."

"You're so simple, Bear."

"Heh… Maybe," he said, not seeming at all offended. "But I'm happy being simple."

"Good for you."

-

"You're going away?" asked Mimiru, pouting as she sat across from Bear at a café in The World. "But you promised you'd do that new dungeon with me!"

"It'll still be there when I get back," said Bear, "but for all next week I'll be out of town doing a favour for a friend."

"What kind of favour?" asked Mimiru. "And who? Do I know 'em?"

Bear just shrugged, "let's not talk about the real world right now. I'll be stuck there for the next week or so anyway-"

"You don't _have_ to come, Bear," said BT, a little sourly, overhearing the last bit as she came over to join them.

"No, I want to," said Bear quickly.

"You're helping out BT?" Mimiru guessed, sort of confused.

"Yeah," said Bear. "I 'm going with her to visit her family- they're having a reunion in the country."

BT kept her face free of emotion.

"BT's takin' you to meet her family?!"

A flicker of disapproval passed over BT's face and Bear began wildly denying her implications. "You're making too much of it! I'm just helping out a friend!" he insisted.

He definitely didn't need another reason for Mimiru to tease him about supposedly –_supposedly_, remember- liking BT. Last Christmas she had spent the entire evening –spent in 'The World', of course- attempting to shove them together under the mistletoe. She had succeeded in the end but BT had soon remedied the situation by destroying the mistletoe with her staff and then bonking Mimiru over the head with it.

"Right, Bear," she said now, grinning widely. "Right."

"Keep acting like that and I _won't_ do the dungeon with you when I get back," he said and Mimiru shut up immediately so that there was relative silence –except for Bear and BT talking among themselves- until Tsukasa and Subaru arrived together.

"Have you two finished your homework yet? Tsukasa said that you both had heaps," said Bear suspiciously and the two girls exchanged sheepish glances.

"What'd you tell him that for?" Subaru whispered out of the corner of his mouth.

"An excuse to get away from the phone and get upstairs to my terminal," Tsukasa whispered back.

"And you didn't think that he'd be here too?"

"He could have been working on his novel!"

"Yeah right!"

"It's fine," said Bear, cutting in. "Just make sure the homework does get done, all right? Actually, it's pretty good that you're here- I've been meaning to tell you that I'm going away for a week staring tomorrow so I won't be seeing you around for a bit."

"The phone reception isn't fantastic either," said BT, "but I'll give you the number anyway."

"You guys are going somewhere together?" asked Tsukasa, raising an eyebrow.

"Shut up, will you? We've already had all that crap from Mimiru- I'm just doing her a favour, got it?"

BT stood suddenly, obviously deciding that she'd told them where they were going and that was all that they needed to know. "I'd better leave- I haven't packed yet. You should too, Bear."

She left hastily and a few seconds –and several wolf whistles- later, he followed her out.


	2. Chapter 2

_DFR//- Wow, I haven't written anything for this fic in ages. Sorry about that! This chapter dedicated to my good friend Chrissy-chan, aka MoonStarDutchess. Well here ya go, enjoy!! Oh, and beware the unoriginality and cliché-ness, lol P --Rissy_ Chapter 2 Real World 

It was a long drive to BT's parents' house and, though they left early, they were not the first to arrive. In fact, it was her younger sister, Imogen, who greeted them at the door.

"Machiko!" she exclaimed happily, immediately pulling her into a bone-crushing embrace. "How are you? Is this your boyfriend? He's kinda cute!"

Bear watched in amusement as BT swatted her away irritably. "I'm fine, and yes, okay?"

Imogen just laughed. "Haha! How on earth do you put up with her? She's such a grumpy boots!"

"I manage somehow," said Bear, grinning as he ignored the evil glare BT shot him. "I'm Ryo Sakuma."

"Nice to meet you! I'm Immy- Machiko's little sister! Come in!"

BT shoved past them both and went indoors, leaving Imogen standing on the doorstep frowning deeply. "Gosh, she's only gotten more grouchy since last year, huh?"

"She's not always like this," said Bear in her defence. "But she's been worried about this reunion for a while- she says that her parents are trying to push her into marriage and starting a family."

"Well, that much is true," said Imogen. "When she went off and became a model Dad got reallllly pissed at her and they've hardly talked since. Now Mum gets afraid that she's lonely without us all, but she's a grown woman already!" She let out an annoyed little sigh hereabouts.

Bear just nodded and stepped inside as she held the door open for him.

"Anyway," Imogen went on. "We should go out into the garden- Mum'll be wanting to meet you, and Machiko probably needs saving from Dad."

"All right," said Bear, and he let Imogen lead him down the long hall to the backyard outside, attempting to not be intimidated by the sheer size of the house. He looked around the huge grassy area and eventually spotted BT standing by a rather fancy looking marble table a little way off and being embraced by a slim, dark-haired woman who was smiling widely.

"It's so good to see you, Machi-chan!" she was saying excitedly. "Now, where's this young man you were telling me about over the phone? You haven't scared him off already, have you?"

BT turned around and saw Bear waving as he and Imogen walked towards them. She waited silently until they reached the table before introducing him. "Mum, this is my… boyfriend, Ryo," she said.

"Elaine," said her mother, sticking out her hand brightly. "It's so nice to see my little Machi-chan settling down!"

"Mum!" BT hissed, glaring. "We're not 'settling down'- we've only been dating for a few months!"

"But you brought him here, didn't you?" Elaine pointed out, eyes twinkling. "Now, why don't you get your bags out of the car and go and get yourselves settled upstairs?"

Without needing any further prompting, Bear left to fetch their bags from the trunk, leaving BT alone with her mother. Just as she was about to go, however, an odd thought struck her. "Hey, mum?"

"Yes, Machi-chan?"

"Where's Ryo going to sleep?"

Elaine's eyes twinkled mischievously. "With you, of course!" she replied in a heartbeat.

"Wi-with me?"

"Of course," she replied, beaming. "Don't tell me that you haven't slept in the same bed before?"

Machiko swallowed and forced herself to nod. "I guess, but…"

"Besides, it can't be helped," said Elaine decisively. "I haven't had any of the other rooms made up. Now, run along and show him the way before he loses himself, and your bags with him!"

Grudgingly, BT ran off to do as she was told. Why did her mother always have to do this? And how was she supposed to survive a week with the awkwardness of waking up next to her best friend every morning? …Not that she could do anything about it now. It looked like she was just going to have to do her best.

-

"Sorry about this, Bear," BT apologised, setting her bags down in the corner of the room and turning around with a sigh, settling her hands on her hips rather exasperatedly. "My mother is just so taken with the idea of me settling down that she… that she gets carried away sometimes."

Bear, who had just come out of the adjoining bathroom (where he had tried to stash his toiletries but found that there was no room among the many packages of medicine, pills, sticky plasters and –most notably- condoms in the bathroom cabinet), shook his head and laughed. "Don't worry. My mother is the same way."

BT just sighed again and endeavoured to change the subject. "She means well though," she said decidedly. "She just worries about me. In any case, it's only a week. So how do you like it he- here-? _Kiyu!!_"

In less than half a second the door had been thrown open, an apparition of army camo colours had flashed by and BT had found herself locked into a tight embrace.

"Haha! Nice to see you too, little sis'!!" laughed the soldier, a large grin spreading across his face.

"Hmph! Kiyu, you reek! Have you honestly come straight from training?" BT sniffed, stepping back.

Her brother only laughed harder. "Don't worry, ya little priss," he replied happily. "Mum's already on my back to have a shower- I'll go do it in a second. I just had to see for myself whether or not the rumours were true!"

"What rumours?" BT sighed exasperatedly.

"That you brought a guy this year," said Kiyu, turning to Bear and grinning wider.

"Hey," said Bear, just a little intimidated by the excitement on the young man's face.

"Hi!" Kiyu greeted him, sticking a hand out brightly. "I'm Sergeant Major Kiyu Kitaoka- Machiko's older brother!"

Bear took his hand and shook it. "I'm Ryo Sakuma- Machi-chan's boyfriend," he replied, repeating the pet name he had heard from BT's mother earlier and seeing her blush prettily upon hearing it from him.

"Great! Well, I'm off to take that shower! Looking forward to talking to you later, Sakuma! You can tell me all about little 'Machi-chan's' secret city life!"

Bear grinned and waved as he left, laughing a little as BT let out a long suffering sigh. "Your brother seems nice."

"He's in every way my mother's son…" was all BT could think to say in reply. Then, "…I'm going to freshen up a bit in the bathroom. I'll just be 10 minutes."

"See you."

BT left and Bear sat down on _their_ bed. He was too tired from the long drive to unpack now, but just as he was about to lay down and take a short nap, there was a knock at the door.

"Machiko?" called a female voice.

"I'm in the bathroom," BT called from the ensuite and the door opened to reveal a pretty dark-haired woman and two young children- one in arms and the other four-years-old and walking behind her.

Only the child noticed Bear sitting on the bed in front of them. The woman just walked straight past and into the bathroom. "Hi there," said the girl, smiling brightly in that way that all BT's family seemed prone to. "Are you Auntie Machiko's friend?"

"Yeah, Machi-chan is my best friend," said Bear, leaning forwards and resting his elbows on his knees so that he was almost at her eyelevel. "She's your aunt?"

"Uh-huh!" said the girl, clambering up onto the bed to sit beside him. "I'm Fianna! My mommy is Auntie Machiko's big sister."

"Yeah? I'm Ryo."

Fianna smiled even brighter. "Well, anyway, I'm glad you're here," she said. "My mommy's always on about Auntie Machiko needing a guy to give her a good screw."

Bear blushed deeply and would have set her straight, but in the end he decided that probably didn't have a clue what her mother meant when she said that anyway and let it slide. "Is that so?" he managed to say instead, relieved beyond belief that he could feel the colour in his cheeks dissipating quickly enough… and not a moment too soon either.

At that moment, the two women emerged from the bathroom, still talking, and BT seemed surprised- almost as though she had forgotten he was there. Seeing him for the first time, the older woman was equally surprised.

"I'm sorry, Bear, I forgot," BT apologised. "I hope you weren't too bored."

"I'm fine, Machi-chan," Bear replied, deciding to ignore the fact that she had called him 'Bear' instead of his given name and pass it off as some sort of pet name.

"Have you been here all this time?" the older woman asked and Bear nodded, getting to his feet and holding out his hand for her to shake politely.

"Yes, I've been talking to your charming daughter, Fianna," he replied eloquently.

"Ryo, this is my elder sister, Djane and her baby daughter Meryl," said BT, flashing him a small approving smile. "You've already met Fianna. Djane, this is my boyfriend, Ryo."

"Ryo Sakuma, right?!" Djane exclaimed, eyes widening all of a sudden. "Machiko's told me all about you -and, of course, I've read all of your books!- but I never knew that the two of you were dating!"

Bear felt his blush threatening to rise again as he shrugged. BT had been talking about him? Even before the whole romantic relationship charade?

Seeing that Bear wasn't going to reply, BT did it for him. "It's… a fairly recent thing," she told her sister slowly.

"But you're already sharing his bed?" Djane teased, raising her eyebrows suggestively and nodding towards the double bed that Fianna was still sitting on, swinging her legs happily.

"Mother's fault," BT replied curtly as Bear just blushed.

"It's mother's fault that you're having sex?"

"Djane, don't be stupid," BT snapped. "Mother has just packed us both into one room- being under the _mistaken_ impression that our relationship was far more intimate than it actually is."

Djane snickered softly. "And how did she take the news?"

"She refuses to acknowledge the fact," said BT, rather irritably. "Anyway, enough about Bear now. We should probably be going back downstairs."

Djane shifted the baby in her arms and grinned. "Sure, come along Mr 'Bear'," she laughed.

"I meant 'Ryo'," BT corrected herself, a look of forged embarrassment on her face.

Djane laughed again and the three of them went downstairs.


End file.
